Cc ery We can use reported speech to report in writing or speech what someone has said. 1 Tense changes When we report what someone has said we sometimes change the tense of the main verb: we move tenses ‘back’ one tense. Original tense of main verb Tense in reported speech present simple 5 Past simple [ve in Italy. She said she lived in Iealy. resent continuous _5 Past continuous Pm living in lialy. She said she was living in Italy. past simple _5 Past perfect I ived in Italy. She said she had lived in lialy, ‘past continuous _ Past perfect continuous 1 was living in Tealy. She said she had been living in Italy. present perfect _y Past perfect Pye lived in Italy. She said she had lived in Italy. past perfect _ Past perfect Vd fived in Tialy. Sha said she'd lived in Italy. be going to _, washwere going to Pm going to live in Italy. Sha said she was going to Hive in Italy. will > would PI Hive in Italy. She said she would live in Iraly. may / might > might T may/might lve in Italy ners year. She said she might tive in laly next year, can _, could Tean tive in Italy. She said she could Vive in Iealy. must _5 had to I mause Hive in Iealy. Sho said she had to live in Iealy. However, we often choose not to change the tense. This may be because © what we are talking about remains true: ‘This has nothing to do with the figures.’ > He said that the job losses have nothing to do with the figures. (at the time of reporting this fact is still true) the original tense was past simple or past continucus: ‘We decided to change the way we operate our business two years ago.’ —> West claimed that they decided to make changes two years ago. 2s2 Reporting verbs When we report what someone has said, we are unlikely to use exactly the same words as in the original speech. We can choose from many different reporting verbs to help us convey the general idea using fewer words than in the original speech. Here are some common reporting verbs: reporting verb (+ that) state, suggest, think, warn: The director elaimed (that) they decided 10 make the changes two years ago. agree, admit, announce, argue, believe, claim, complain, deny, explain, insist, promise, propose, reply, request, say, reporting verb + someone + that ‘assure, inform, persuade, remind, tll: He assured the interviewer that the company would continue to operate in the future reporting verb + to-infinitive agree, ask, claim, offer, promise, propose, refuse: He promised to do his best for the employees. reporting verb + someone + to-infinitive advise, ask, encourage, invite, persuade, remind, tel, urge, warn: They urged the employees ro stay calm, reporting verb + preposition +-ing / noun argue about, complain about: Hv complained about the terrible food. apologise for: The company apologised for causing redundancies. insist on: The manager insisted on seeing the staff. complain to: He complained wo the manager. reporting verb + someone + preposition + -ing / noun accuse oft They accused the company of planning badly, advise about, remind about: They reminded her about the meeting, advise on, congratulate on: He advised me on the deal. blame for, thank for: They thanked her for coming reporting verb + -ing / noun accept, admis, deny, suggest: The director denied having financial problems. The employees accepted the offer of early redundancy. ‘reporting verb + someone (+ noun) offer, promise, refuse: He offered her a job. A Some of the same verbs can be used in different ways (e.g. admit, claim, offer, persuade): West claimed that they decided o make the changes two years ago. West claimed to have decided to make the changes two years ago. 126ac 3 Time references etc. We sometimes need to change other words or phrases in reported speech if they are reported ata different time from the original words: today —> that day tomorrow —> the following day / the next day “yesterday — the day before next week ~> the following week now — then / straight away this > that here— there He said he would see me tomorrow. (reported on the same day) He said he would see me the next day. (reported at a later date) ‘Sometimes the context requires pronouns to change: ‘I like you.’—» He said he liked her. ‘Tike you.’ I said I liked her. 4 Reporting questions We use statement word order when reporting questions: asked Mr West how he was going t0 deal with the problem. (not tasked Mx West how-was-he- blew.) To report questions with question words (who, what, where, why, when, how) we keep the question word: ‘What has led to this situation?” — The interviewer asked what had led to this situation. We can use if or whether to report yes/no questions: ‘Are these cuts a result of Angleside’s poor performance over the past five years?” — Lasked if/whether these cuts were the result of Angleside’s poor performance over the past five years, 4 We do not use'a question mark for reported questions. Grammar extra: Other ways of reporting We can use other expressions to report speech e.g. according to (common in spoken and written English), apparently, supposedly, seemingly (more common in spoken English): According to the radio programme, they are cutting 150 jobs.